UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- The United Nations welcomes preliminary results announced in Baghdad Friday of last month's Iraqi elections, won by a Shiite coalition.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan "welcomes the announcement" of the results and "pays tribute to the courage and determination of the Iraqi people for participating in large numbers in this national election," said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, shortly after the results were released.
A coalition of Shiite parties won the elections, held Dec. 15, although it didn't receive enough votes to claim a majority of seats in the parliament, according to Iraqi election officials.
The new government was expected to be dominated by representatives of Shiite parties.
The Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance won 128 out of 275 seats, which falls 10 members short of a majority.
The second-largest bloc in the parliament was expected be a coalition of Kurdish parties which won 53 seats in the balloting. The largest Sunni party, the Iraqi Accordance Front, won 44 seats and another Sunni party won 11.
The secretary-general "calls upon all Iraqi political parties to come together in a spirit of national reconciliation to form an inclusive and fully representative government that will serve all the Iraqi people," the spokesman said.
